Friday, July 1, 2011

Refreshing Pomegranate Ice Tea with a Orangey Twist

Pomegranate is an all time favorite of mine. I've been playing with the idea of making an ice cream or a sorbet, for some weird reason haven't been able to find much of my fvt fruit in the markets. Even went to an extent of Buying a bottle of POM, hmm... inference = can't beat the freshness. So here we are trying my hands on making a strange concoction which delivered well. Many people don't get Ice Tea, never mind these blokes, I love ice tea. What can beat a chilled can on Arnold palmer (Half Lemonade / half Ice Tea) on a warm & humid summer day.

Refreshing Pomegranate Ice Tea with a Orangey Twist

Back to pomegranates, today we will learn how to cut one without leaving a mess on your clothes & turning the juice into a great Ice Tea recipe which I'm sure you'd love reading more than I loved making it.

How to cut/de-seed a Pomegranate:
Make sure you are not wearing whites & in fact wearing an apron is safe.
With a chef's knife make a cut through the crown of pomegranate & cut in half.
Use your hands to tear open the fruit, do all this in a large bowl so that any juice or loose seeds fall in.
Make a second cut through the half working from the crown to the way down.
Again make sure you work away any loose seeds & collect any juice in the bowl.
In the bowl fill some water, take all the 4 cut portions & start prying away seeds one by one.
Seeds will start sinking in the water.

Make sure your hands are always inside the water, this will ensure juice doesn't splatter all over.

Method:
Take pomegranate seeds & crush in a blender for ~ 1min
Use strainer to separate pomegranate juice from seeds.
In a pan take pomegranate juice, add sugar & keep heat on simmer for almost 10 mins.
Mix will start to thicken, add lemon juice at this stage & stir for another 2 mins.
Take off the heat & collect in a cup, allow to cool down.

Take Hot water (4 Glasses) in a bowl & dip tea bags.
Leave the bags in for 2-3 mins.
Use a spoon & fork to squeeze bags.
Dont leave bags in for more than 5 mins , it will make the tea bitter.

At this stage, add pomegranate mix to the tea.
Mix well & keep aside to cool for 30 mins

Hi Sonia. That sounds very refreshing. I have a few pomegrantes on the tree outside and I'm hoping they make it and if they do, I will be doing this. Thanks for sharing. Have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Lovely recipe! I live in Chile, and here is an autumn-winter fruit, so I'll try a warmer version of this.Thanks for the tip on de-seeding it, I'll definitely use it next time. To make the juice I crush the seeds with a colander using a pestle..it's lots of work, but -for me- produces a better tasting juice.

Wow.... I love this pomegranate ice tea! I didn't know the best way to de-seed, and thanks for teaching us how! This tea is such a luxury. I would have to enjoy every sip! The picture of pomegranate is amazing Sonia!